COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Families with Disabled Children

Families with Disabled Children

Introduction

The study is based on the two past research reports that are “Disabling a family? Emotional dilemmas experienced in becoming a parent of a child with learning disabilities” and “What makes my family stronger”. The purpose of the study is to compare and critique on these researches. In particular, these researches are about the families of the disabled children; therefore, the study focuses on the issues that the families face due to the disabled children.

Discussion

In the research, that is “Disabling a family? Emotional dilemmas experienced in becoming a parent of a child with learning disabilities” focuses on the various aspects of the phenomena that are families living with the disabled children that are the problems that the families face because of the disabled children.

However, the research that is “What makes my family stronger” focuses on the aspect that what makes families with disabled children feels stronger. Therefore, it can be said that both the researches highlights the same concern that families with disabled children.

Family support in families with disabled children

According to the research that is “Disabling a family? Emotional dilemmas experienced in becoming a parent of a child with learning disabilities”; there are some specific problems of families with disabled children are presented which are discussed below. This aim is primarily at families with handicapped and developmentally delayed or disabled children.

Life situation

The life situation of a family with a disabled child or abnormal development is generally characterized by particularly high loads in both mental and physical as well as frequently in material terms. The birth of a disabled child or the assumption or knowledge, to have a disability or developmental threatened to strike child solves, almost always from a severe crisis or shock to the family concerned. The confrontation with real or potential disability represents a massive cut in the existing family structure and changing the existing form of living together often considerable. For those affected by this unexpected situation often triggers a deep emotional shock, mainly anxiety and uncertainty. In the beginning, there are usually feelings of powerlessness and paralysis, and the “do not have true” the painful reality in the foreground. Response patterns vary from lethargy denial and over activity. After some time, then break out often rival strong emotions such as sadness, disappointment, despair and intense guilt feelings. These conflicting feelings are hard to endure and can be expressed openly and rarely lived (Contact a family, 2009, 5-34). In individual processing, process families trying to meet this sometimes traumatic experience acting. Depending on the personality structure and the respective specific disability families develop different coping patterns, which are determined not least by the particular social environment (relatives, friends, professionals).

These unexpected forces mobilize families to organize their daily life extremely difficult and have the desire to live normal which do not want for their disabled child's whole family to be disabled. For the affected family, members that are the disabled children, especially for the parents, the fact that a disabled ...